Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Golem and the Jinni

This book was unlike anything I’ve read before, but in this case, it wasn’t a plus. Wecker’s writing is expansive, reflective, intricate in nature; the plot of the novel was both more epic in scale and more concerned with minutiae than I expected, and the duality of these elements makes for a drawn-out tale, a little like the layers of the thousand and one nights, where pieces spin out of focus and back to the centre. Every character is important, though many of them aren’t obviously relevant or terribly interesting from my perspective.

I appreciated the story for its careful mapping of New York City through the eyes of immigrants coming to understand, make a home, and find independence in an unfamiliar, growing city. Wecker has great empathy for these characters: for the multitude of reasons that people may travel; the social, cultural, and economic positions they inhabit; the things they recall from other countries, bring with them, and find to comfort and satisfy in the new land. The spiritual characterizations were folded into the setting with skill, and also showed confrontation with the new, though for the Jinni and Golem, there was more to learn and adapt to.

I was drawn to the Golem and Mahmoud Saleh especially. The Golem is painted with a deferent desire to please others, coupled with a struggle to make a full picture of others’ minds beyond their strongest impulses; the balance of social sensitivity and difficulty with social cues was familiar to my neurodivergent way of seeing, as were other events, like Chava’s fear of her own mind, lack of interest in many normative interactions, and her curious experimentation with her body. Saleh, I viewed as an interesting model for depressive mentality—I liked seeing a sick mind without having competing theories about depression or possession, but I also liked seeing some symptoms, notably passive suicidal ideation, difficulty with people, and greyness to the world, show up as marks of a possessed mind. I also liked Myram as a constant and a symbol of Little Syria.

I didn’t like Sophia’s, Shaalman’s, or Anna’s roles in the narrative, and I would have liked a smaller-scale story, one that stayed closer to the titular characters. The historical theory was a drag on the close character study that I anticipated, and I found the dramatic twists increasingly tiresome and not to my liking as they built up and up towards the conclusion.

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paracosim's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

My man Saleh…love him

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stwriter92's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I just finished reading this book this morning (I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep) and I would be lying if I said I wasn't clutching the book a bit too tightly during the last thirty or so pages.

Ms. Wecker writes in such a rich and beautiful way, truly breathing life into every single character she creates. Whilst reading this, I felt as if I were actually living in the story, roaming the streets of New York at night with the two uncanny protagonists (though I think that I would bore the Jinni and tire the Golem out quickly enough).

I've always had a thing for stories that start off with many different threads of a plot that has yet to achieve its full form. This book did exactly that. At the beginning, with so many characters introduced, I wasn't sure how they would all be connected to create a truly cohesive story of any sort. However, as the pieces of the puzzle began to click into place and the stories became more and more interwoven, I was able to fall into the discovery right along with the characters in question. The story itself follows the life of a Golem, a creature created from earth and mud to be an obedient and unquestioning servant, and a Jinni, a being of fire with a personality as capricious and dangerous as its source. The two become unlikely companions and soon find that their survival depends on the other.

The thing I loved most was the depth given to not just the characters but the settings of this story. I truly felt immersed in this story and would often lose track of time while reading because I had sunk so fully into the world that Ms. Wecker had created. Usually, when it comes to stories told from multiple points of view, I find myself favoring some over others and find the ones I do not favor to be tedious to get through. I did not have that experience here, however. Each character had a very definite purpose to the plot as well as to the development of other characters. It made me so happy to see that each character was fleshed out completely. Not a single one was left unfinished or undeveloped. Each character was complex and was given a backstory without the info-dumpy feeling that I usually get with the introduction of backstories. It was just so naturally done!

The only thing that is stopping me from giving it five stars (although it is definitely being added to my favorites) is that it did take a bit longer than I had expected to really get to the crux of the matter. Once it did, the ending seemed to happen all at once, which made me wonder why there was such a huge buildup. That isn't to say that the ending itself was unsatisfying. It just felt a bit rushed compared to the rest of the novel.

I do highly, highly, highly recommend this book, though. It was a fantastic reading experience and I'm going to see if I can go get my hands on the sequel as soon as possible!

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pphector's review against another edition

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adventurous inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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evenstr's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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micallab's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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violetbin's review against another edition

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slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I felt like this book tried to address too many hot topics at once; sexism, race, religious differences, misogyny, classism, and MAGIC. I didn't walk away knowing what the author wanted me to know about any of these themes. That said, if you want to learn more about mystic religions in the Middle East, I'd recommend this. Works well before bed or in the tub.

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